North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre to commence service tomorrow (with photos)
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) has completed the preparation work for the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre (HKICC) and will start admission of COVID-19 confirmed patients with suitable clinical conditions tomorrow morning (February 26).
The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, visited the HKICC today (February 25) to express gratitude to the healthcare staff and officiated at the service commencement ceremony together with Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Ms Qiu Hong and the HA Chairman, Mr Henry Fan. The Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong; the North Lantau Hospital Hospital Governing Committee Chairman, Professor Raymond Liang; and the HA Chief Executive, Dr Tony Ko, among others, also joined the ceremony.
Mr Fan thanked the Central Government and various departments and teams of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government for their support to complete the construction of the HKICC in only four months. He also thanked the staff of the HA for the teamwork and collaboration in preparing the HKICC to commence in a timely manner and cope with the upcoming challenge of the epidemic.
A spokesperson for the HA said, “The HKICC will first open a ward with 48 isolation beds tomorrow to admit COVID-19 confirmed patients, aged between 16 and 65, with mild or moderate clinical conditions. Keeping in view the developments of the epidemic, the HKICC could progressively take over the patients staying in the community treatment facility for more efficient deployment of manpower and resources.”
Following the handover of the HKICC to the HA in January, Kowloon West Cluster, responsible for the management and operation of the HKICC, immediately started the preparation work, including installation and calibration of medical equipment, performing various tests, formulating service operation guidelines and providing appropriate staff training, to ensure that the relevant facilities are ready as early as possible.
“There are six two-storey ward buildings with a total of 816 isolation beds at the HKICC. All wards are equipped with hospital-grade isolation facilities. Unlike the community treatment facility in an exhibition hall, the HKICC is able to provide intravenous medication and oxygen therapy, which can help alleviate the pressure for isolation beds in public hospitals. In addition, the six independent blocks of ward buildings can be activated in phases according to the evolving epidemic situation, allowing more flexibility in manpower deployment and operation arrangements,” the spokesperson said.
“Apart from routine tests for clinical management, the laboratory at the medical centre is equipped with state-of-the-art and fully automated laboratory equipment to handle a maximum of 1 500 specimens per day and augment the overall laboratory capacity of public hospitals by about 15 per cent. The overall testing capability of the Hong Kong healthcare system will be further enhanced,” the spokesperson added.
